Drinking cup

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a drinking cup or other container that has a cup body having a generally circular periphery, a bottom, a top rim, and a side wall extending from the bottom to the top rim. The side wall has inside and outside surfaces. It also has a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys on the outside surface about the periphery of the drinking cup or other container. The drinking cup or other container has a plurality of reinforcing projections on the outside surface. The reinforcing projections are between adjacent valleys. The reinforcing projections are useful in providing additional stiffness to the side wall.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to containers for packaging including drinking cups, and more particularly to containers and drinking cups having reinforcing projections and valleys on its side walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to sell beverages in disposable or reusable plastic drinking cups for carry-out sale of beverages such as soft drinks and the like. It is also generally known to package goods and foodstuffs in disposable or reusable plastic containers. Generally, such drinking cups or containers are made of rigid, injection-molded plastic. A problem with manufacturing these containers is that the cost of manufacturing varies with both the amount of material used in each container as well as the time it takes for one cycle of the injection molding machine to be completed. The less material used in a container, the thinner the container wall and the faster the injection molding machine will be able to produce a container. The lower limit for the amount of material used in each container is determined by the minimum wall thickness, below which the container can no longer support the vertical and tangential loads applied during use.

It is a challenge to manufacture containers with minimal material due to the material requirements of the sidewall of the container. The taller the container, the thicker the sidewall must be to support the structure. It is difficult in manufacturing processes to cycle enough material to the top of the sidewall to meet mold-filling requirements. A sidewall having a specific thickness must meet a minimum fill ratio of height to diameter in order for material to flow to the top of the container. There is a need for a container having a design including high points and valleys. There is a need for such a container that allows the material to flow via the high points to the top of the vessel and where the valley sections reduce the weight of the vessel. There is a need for such a container that provides more efficient cooling and a faster cycle.

These problems are addressed by the present invention. Accordingly, it is an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide a drinking cup or other container having a construction that reduces the amount of material necessary to produce a structurally stable cup or container and that permits the requisite amount of material to be cycled to the top of the structure during manufacturing. This results in a drinking cup that costs less to manufacture than current cups now on the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reinforcing profile for the side wall of a drinking cup or other container, that minimizes the material used while maximizing the structural strength of the cup or container. Specifically, this aspect includes a drinking cup or container, comprising: a cup body having a generally circular periphery, a bottom, a top rim, and a side wall extending from the bottom to the top rim; the side wall having inside and outside surfaces, and the side wall comprising a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys on the outside surface about the periphery of the drinking cup or container; and a plurality of reinforcing projections on the outside surface, the reinforcing projections defined by respective pairs of adjacent valleys, wherein the reinforcing projections provide additional stiffness to the side wall.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drinking cup or container, comprising: a cup body having a generally circular periphery, a bottom, a top rim, and a side wall extending from the bottom to the top rim; the side wall having inside and outside surfaces, and the side wall comprising a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys on the inside surface about the periphery of the drinking cup or container; and a plurality of reinforcing projections on the inside surface, the reinforcing projections defined by respective pairs of adjacent valleys, wherein the reinforcing projections provide additional stiffness to the side wall.

In another aspect of the invention, the periphery of the drinking cup or container body at the top rim has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the periphery at the bottom and the valleys have a width that decreases from the top rim to the bottom.

In a further aspect of the invention, the drinking cup or container comprises a base having a generally circular periphery, a side wall extending from the periphery of the base, and terminating at a lip, the side wall having a repeating segment of a conic cross-section on one surface of the wall.

The invention has a number of advantages and features that increase its value as a drinking cup or container design. As previously mentioned, the reinforcing profile enables a construction of a drinking cup or container using less material than previous methods, while maintaining the structural strength and integrity of the drinking cup. Less material also allows faster injection mold cycling, allowing more cups to be produced each day, thus reducing the manufacturing cost per day.

The profile enables the cup or container to be manufactured using less material and at a faster rate as the reinforcing projections provide a channel within the mould for material to flow from the base of the cup to the lip. Without the channel provided by the reinforcing projections, material would have difficulty in flowing through the narrow side wall from the base to the lip of the cup.

Placing the reinforcing profile on the inside of the cup or container has additional advantages. With the profile on the inside, the exterior of the cup may be decorated by printing with high speed offset presses. Furthermore, a customer may have a name etched on the interior surface of the cup mould. If the cup is formed of clear material, the name will show through the wall of the cup. If the customer wishes to change the appearance of the cup, the same mould may be used with colored material so that the name will not show through the side wall of the cup. The customer may then optionally have a different name or graphic printed on the exterior. This advantageously allows the use of the same mould for different style cups, reducing the cost of manufacture.

The channel profile of the present invention allows a cup or container to be moulded faster with a thinner sidewall by using an outer portion of the wave material to the top lip in a faster cycle. The channel profile also allows the moulding apparatus to cycle faster by giving the material a thicker pathway to the top

The channel profile of the present invention further allows half the mould to be utilised without reducing efficiency. An operator can change the cavity section of the mould to provide different wording to be printed on the cup or container surface. This reduces mould production cost by about fifty percent.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lip portion may be thickened to provide additional hoop strength.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the design of the side wall profile assists in preventing sink marks on the smooth side of the side wall. This ensures the ability to provide smooth coverage if applying printing to that surface in a later manufacturing step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to the same parts in the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a drinking cup of one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-section of the side wall of the cup of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-section of the side wall of the cup of FIG. 1, where the valleys are on the inside surface of the cup;

FIG. 4 a is a partial cross-sectional view of the side wall of FIG. 2, with sample dimensions from an upper portion of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 b is a partial cross-sectional view of the side wall of FIG. 2, with sample dimensions from the lower portion of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 a is a partial cross-sectional view of the side wall of FIG. 3, with sample dimensions from an upper portion of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 b is a partial cross-sectional view of the side wall of FIG. 3, with sample dimensions from the lower portion of the preferred embodiment;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with reference to its preferred embodiments, and in particular with reference to an embodiment of a container used as a drinking cup.

As shown in FIG. 1, one aspect of the present invention provides a drinking cup 10. Drinking cup 10 is preferably made of rigid, injection-molded plastic, but other suitable construction material may be used. Drinking cup 10 comprises a bottom 20 and a top rim 30, both the bottom 20 and top rim 30 have a generally circular periphery in cross section. Side wall 40 extends from the bottom 20 to the top rim 30. Side wall 40 may include a lower portion 42, an upper portion 44 and a lip portion 46. In a preferred embodiment, lower portion 42 is of reduced cross section relative to upper portion 44. Both the lower portion 42 and the upper portion 44 preferably have a taper with a taper angle relative to vertical of about 2° to about 6°, preferably about 3.5°. The taper results in a drinking cup 10 with a bottom 20 of smaller diameter than the top rim 30. Side wall 40 comprises a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys 50 and a plurality of reinforcing peaks or projections 52, defined by a respective pair of valleys 50. The lip portion 46 may be devoid of valleys 50 and reinforcing projections 52.

As better shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cross-sectional profile of side wall 40 may also be described as a wall having repeating segments of conic cross-section 70 on a surface of the side wall 40. Where adjacent segments 70 join, the side wall 40 is at its thickest, while at the center of each segment 70, the side wall 40 is at its thinnest.

Referring to FIG. 2, a partial cross-section is shown of one embodiment of side wall 40 where the concave-shaped valleys 50 and projections 52 are located on the outside surface 48 about the periphery of the drinking cup 10. The inside surface 47 is generally smooth.

Referring to FIG. 3, a partial cross-section is shown of another embodiment of side wall 40 where the concave-shaped valleys 50 and projections 52 are located on the inside surface 47 about the periphery of the drinking cup 10. In this embodiment, the outside surface 48 is generally smooth. This embodiment provides the added benefit that the outside surface 48 can be printed with various logos, pictures, letters, etc., as desired. As well, having the valleys 50 and projections 52 on the inside surface 47 helps reduce the amount of foam created when a carbonated beverage, such as a soft drink, is poured into the cup 10.

A further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b. FIG. 4 a shows a partial cross-section of the side wall 40 at a location adjacent to the top rim 30, and preferred dimensions of the concave-shaped valleys 50 and projections 52 and the relative thickness of the side wall 40 at the center of the concave-shaped valleys 50 compared to the thickness of the side wall 40 at the projections 52. Preferably, the width of the valleys 50 and their center-to-center spacing is about 0.140 inches, whereas the wall thickness is 0.015 inches at the center of the valleys 50 and 0.024 inches at the projections 52.

FIG. 4 b also partially illustrates the side wall 40, but at a location adjacent to the bottom 20. As shown, preferably the width of the valleys 50 and their center-to-center spacing is 0.111 inches, less that that adjacent to the top rim 30 shown in FIG. 4 a. In this embodiment, the width of the valleys 50 and their center-to-center spacing decrease from the top rim 30 to the bottom 20. It will be noted from FIG. 4 b that the thickness of the side wall 40 at the center of the valleys 50 and at the projections 52 is the same as in FIG. 4 a.

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate a similar embodiment as FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, however, the valleys 50 and projections 52 are on the inside surface 47 of the side wall 40. Otherwise, it will be seen that the dimensions of the widths of the valleys 50 and their center-to-center spacing remains the same as for FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, respectively.

It is to be understood that the dimensions referred to in this specification are intended to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and not for the invention in its broadest sense. Dimensions of various elements of the cup 10, side wall 40, valleys 50 and projections 52 spacing may vary without departing from the scope of the invention.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention allow for drinking cups to be made while decreasing material costs by about 25%, while cycle times for molding a cup is reduced by about 20 to 25%. This results in substantial savings over time, while maintaining acceptable cup rigidity.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to its preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other changes, modifications, additions and omissions may be made without departing from the substance and the scope of the present invention as defined by the attached claims. 

1. A drinking cup or other container, comprising: (a) a cup body having a generally circular periphery, a bottom, a top rim, and a side wall extending from the bottom to the top rim, (b) the side wall having inside and outside surfaces, and the side wall comprising a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys on the outside surface about the periphery of the drinking cup or other container, and (c) a plurality of reinforcing projections on the outside surface, the reinforcing projections defined by respective pairs of adjacent valleys, wherein the reinforcing projections provide additional stiffness to the side wall.
 2. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1, wherein the valleys and reinforcing projections extend from the bottom to the top rim.
 3. The drinking cup or other container of claim 2, further comprising a lip area below the top rim, wherein the lip area is devoid of valleys and reinforcing projections.
 4. The drinking cup or other container of claim 2, wherein the valleys are located on the entire side wall.
 5. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1, wherein the inside surface is generally smooth.
 6. The drinking cup or other container of claim 3, wherein the periphery of the cup body at the top rim has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the periphery at the bottom.
 7. The drinking cup or other container of claim 3, wherein the periphery of the cup body at the top rim has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the periphery at the bottom and the valleys have a width that decreases from the top rim to the bottom.
 8. The drinking cup or other container of claim 7, wherein the width of the valleys at the top rim is from about 0.1 to about 0.2 inches, preferably about 0.14 inches, and the width of the valleys at the bottom is from about 0.08 to about 0.18 inches, preferably about 0.111 inches.
 9. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1 wherein the drinking cup is made of injection-molded plastic.
 10. A drinking cup or other container, comprising: (a) a cup body having a generally circular periphery, a bottom, a top rim, and a side wall extending from the bottom to the top rim, (b) the side wall having inside and outside surfaces, and the side wall comprising a plurality of vertically-oriented, concave-shaped valleys on the inside surface about the periphery of the drinking cup or other container, and (c) a plurality of reinforcing projections on the inside surface, the reinforcing projections defined by respective pairs of adjacent valleys, wherein the reinforcing projections provide additional stiffness to the side wall.
 11. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10, wherein the valleys and reinforcing projections extend from the bottom to the top rim.
 12. The drinking cup or other container of claim 11, further comprising a lip area below the top rim, wherein the lip area is devoid of valleys and reinforcing projections.
 13. The drinking cup or other container of claim 11, wherein the valleys are located on the entire side wall.
 14. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10, wherein the outside surface is generally smooth.
 15. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10, wherein the periphery of the cup body at the top rim has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the periphery at the bottom.
 16. The drinking cup or other container of claim 12, wherein the periphery of the cup body at the top rim has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the periphery at the bottom and the valleys have a width that decreases from the top rim to the bottom.
 17. The drinking cup or other container of claim 16, wherein the width of the valleys at the top rim is from about 0.1 to about 0.2 inches, preferably about 0.14 inches, and the width of the valleys at the bottom is from about 0.08 to about 0.18 inches, preferably about 0.111 inches.
 18. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10 wherein the drinking cup is made of injection-molded plastic.
 19. A drinking cup or other container comprising: (a) a base having a generally circular periphery, (b) a side wall extending from the periphery of the base, and terminating at a lip, (c) the side wall having an inner and an outer surface, and (d) the side wall having on its outer surface repeating segments of conic cross-section.
 20. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19, wherein the segments of conic cross-section are segments of circles.
 21. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19, wherein the inner surface of the side wall is generally smooth.
 22. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19 wherein the cup at the lip has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the cup at the base.
 23. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19 wherein the side wall tapers from the lip to the base to permit nesting of the cups.
 24. A drinking cup or other container comprising: (a) a base having a generally circular periphery, (b) a side wall extending from the periphery of the base, and terminating at a lip, (c) the side wall having an inner and an outer surface, and (d) the side wall having on its inner surface repeating segments of conic cross-section.
 25. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24, wherein the segments of conic cross-section are segments of circles.
 26. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24, wherein the outer surface of the side wall is generally smooth.
 27. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24 wherein the cup at the lip has a first diameter that is larger than a second diameter of the cup at the base.
 28. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24 wherein the side wall tapers from the lip to the base to permit nesting of the cups.
 29. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1 comprising an upper portion and a lower portion of the side wall, wherein the lower portion of the cup is of reduced cross-section relative to the upper portion.
 30. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10 comprising an upper portion and a lower portion of the side wall, wherein the lower portion of the cup is of reduced cross-section relative to the upper portion.
 31. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1 wherein the cup has a lip area that is thickened to provide additional hoop strength.
 32. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10 wherein the cup has a lip area that is thickened to provide additional hoop strength.
 33. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19 wherein the cup has a lip area that is thickened to provide additional hoop strength.
 34. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24 wherein the cup has a lip area that is thickened to provide additional hoop strength.
 35. The drinking cup or other container of claim 1 wherein the cup is formed of a clear material and a graphic is etched onto the inside surface such that the graphic may be viewed through the side wall of the cup.
 36. The drinking cup or other container of claim 10 wherein the cup is formed of a clear material and a graphic is etched onto the inside surface such that the graphic may be viewed through the side wall of the cup.
 37. The drinking cup or other container of claim 19 wherein the cup is formed of a clear material and a graphic is etched onto the inner surface of the side wall such that the graphic may be viewed by looking through the outer surface of the cup.
 38. The drinking cup or other container of claim 24 wherein the cup is formed of a clear material and a graphic is etched onto the inner surface of the side wall such that the graphic may be viewed by looking through the outer surface of the cup.
 39. The drinking cup or other container of claim 37 wherein the cup is formed of an opaque or translucent material such that the graphic is obscured from view through the side wall of the cup.
 40. The drinking cup or other container of claim 38 wherein the cup is formed of an opaque or translucent material such that the graphic is obscured from view through the side wall of the cup. 